Player of the Month #48: Dillon Style

Hey Unicorns! In our last interview, we met a standout player from the same server as our current guest. They gave us their perspectives on the ongoing war in Firmera, along with insights into their real-life marriage and goals.
This month, we're diving into the Retro Open servers. Meet Dillon Style, a seasoned banker, leader, and PvP master who's going to walk us through the current state of war on Retro Open.
Introducing our Player of the Month for July: Dillon Style!

Our legendary MMORPG, which has challenged and accompanied us since 1997, is more alive than ever. This game transports us to universes where each server becomes a unique world, with rules and mechanics designed for all types of players. That's Tibia! From the thrilling Open PVP servers to the captivating Retro PVP realms, the realm of intense warfare awaits new players. 

Looking for a balance between PVP combat and character development? 

Retro PVP servers are for you!

But if your passion lies in the challenge and strategy of PVP, choose the Hardcore PVP servers. 

They are ideal for those seeking to excel in competitive and demanding environments. Retro PVP and Hardcore PVP servers embody the pure essence of combat and strategy in Tibia. In this edition, we are proud to offer an experience that blends classic nostalgia with the challenges we face as an ever-evolving community, making each moment in Tibia a cherished memory.

Currently, Tibia boasts over 70 servers distributed across different regions, each with diverse gameplay rules. Among them, the Antica server stands out as one of the most populated, being one of the first launched and maintaining an extremely active player base. 

This month on Tibia Goals, we highlight the vibrant and competitive community of the Retro Open PVP server Firmera, filled with passionate players who eagerly accept the greatest challenges, but first a little bit of background:

Types of Servers in Tibia: A Journey through the Best

Open PVP: Adventure with Controlled Risk

In Tibia, open PvP (Player versus Player) refers to areas of the game where players can freely attack each other without restrictions. This type of environment offers an intense and dynamic experience, where individual skill and team strategy are crucial to survive and thrive.

Open PvP zones are designed to challenge players, where each encounter can mean gaining or losing experience, rare items, and valuable objects. It is essential to be prepared and have a well-thought-out strategy, as the consequences of dying in combat can be significant.

Players often form guilds and alliances to strengthen each other and face the challenges of these dangerous areas. Coordination within these groups is crucial, allowing tactics such as strategic ambushes and intelligent use of terrain and items to gain an advantage over opponents.

Whether opting for long-range combat with magic and ranged weapons, or preferring melee confrontation, players must adapt quickly to combat dynamics. Staying stocked with appropriate potions and consumables also plays a key role in surviving these intense encounters.

Thus, open PvP in Tibia offers an exciting experience for those seeking constant challenges and the opportunity to showcase their skills in a competitive environment. Mastering these strategies and skills requires not only individual prowess but also the ability to work as a team and make the most of the game environment.

Optional PVP: Uninterrupted Adventure

These servers are perfect for players who prefer to focus on exploring cities, quests, and missions, developing their characters without worrying about being attacked by other players. 

With PVP combat almost completely disabled, players can enjoy Tibia's rich narrative and vast medieval world in peace. They are designed for adventurers who want to immerse themselves in the game's quests and story, and for those who love social interaction and cooperation in a peaceful environment. 

The community here focuses on personal growth and discovery, fostering a friendly and collaborative atmosphere. 

In summary, Tibia's Optional PVP servers are the perfect refuge for players seeking a tranquil and enriching gaming experience, centered on adventure and progress without interruptions from constant combat.

Retro PVP and Retro Hardcore PVP: The Magic of Old School for the bravest

If you're one who longs for the mechanics and excitement of PVP from Tibia's early versions, Retro PVP and Retro Open PVP servers are your choice. These servers recreate the original experience with rules and mechanics close to the old versions, where combat was more brutal and defeat had harsher consequences. Nostalgia meets challenge: you can engage in PVP combat with specific limitations to maintain game balance. Attacking other players without valid justification can result in accumulating PVP points and penalties like loss of skills or experience. Additionally, some areas like cities offer protection against PVP attacks, ensuring a safe haven within the game.

In Hardcore PVP and Retro Hardcore PVP servers, you reach the pinnacle of intensity. Hardcore PVP offers the most extreme PVP experience, with harsh penalties for death and a highly competitive environment. Here, players experience unrestricted PVP combat, high risks, and great rewards, where strategy and tactics are essential. Those seeking the ultimate challenge will enjoy an intense and risky experience, with rules allowing unrestricted PVP combat, high risks, and great rewards. Competition among players and guilds is fierce, making strategy and tactics crucial.

In Retro Hardcore PVP servers, the brutality of Hardcore PVP servers combines with the rules and atmosphere of Tibia's classic versions. Ideal for those seeking an extreme challenge, these servers offer classic PVP rules with severe penalties and a highly competitive environment. Here, players can engage in combat virtually anywhere, with few restrictions. Death in combat can result in significant loss of experience, skills, and equipment, making every move a critical decision for survival.

Hardcore PVP and Retro Hardcore PVP servers also introduce the skull system, marking players for their PVP actions. Attacking and killing other players accumulates PVP points, and accumulating too many can result in a visible "skull" for everyone, marking you as a "killer". Red Skulls and Black Skulls carry additional penalties such as greater skill loss and NPC guard attacks. These servers are perfect for players seeking a significant challenge and an authentic, dangerous PVP experience, where every move and decision can have significant consequences for their experience, skills, and equipment.

Differences in Penalties and Rules: A Gameplay Analysis

In Retro PVP servers, PVP rules are more lenient. Players can attack each other with fewer restrictions, fostering an atmosphere where alliances, betrayals, and large-scale battles are common. Penalties for killing other players are lighter compared to modern servers. On the other hand, Hardcore PVP servers have even more aggressive rules. Death can result in a significant loss of experience and skills, making each battle a high-risk strategic decision.

Consequences of dying in PVP combat

• Retro PVP Servers: Death in combat results in experience loss and the possibility of losing some items, but penalties are not as severe as on Hardcore servers.

• Hardcore PVP Servers: The consequences of death are drastic, with a considerable loss of experience, skills, and the possibility of losing all equipment. This aspect makes survival paramount and turns each battle into a tension-filled event.

Why choose Retro PVP and Hardcore PVP? 

Constant adrenaline rush is one of the main reasons. These servers keep players on the edge of their seats, offering unpredictable and challenging battles where every move counts. Players on these servers are passionate and dedicated, creating a vibrant and committed community. Alliances and rivalries forge a unique and exciting social dynamic. Nostalgia and authenticity also play a crucial role. 

For Tibia veterans, Retro PVP servers offer a return to the game's glorious days, while Hardcore PVP servers provide a pure and uncompromising experience of classic PVP. These servers represent the ultimate challenge for players looking to test their skills and strategies in the most hostile and competitive environment possible.

For PVP enthusiasts, Tibia's Retro PVP and Hardcore PVP servers represent the pinnacle of combat and strategy. With their strict rules and passionate communities, they offer an unparalleled experience that blends nostalgia, authenticity, and unmatched challenge. Whether reliving past glories on a Retro PVP server or facing extreme danger on a Hardcore PVP server, these servers guarantee an unforgettable experience for those seeking the utmost in player-versus-player combat.

At Tibia Goals, throughout our interviews in recent years, we have understood that each type of server offers a unique gameplay style. 

Our Player of the Month helps us showcase this. 

Thank you very much, Dillon, for being part of our guests in this section.

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your history with Tibia?

- For those who do not know me, I am Dillon, I am from America of Irish descent in my early 30s. I am a crypto trader, entrepreneur and father. I am one of the main leaders of Bastex, which can be found in Firmera, Flamera, Kardera and Mykera, Retro Open PvP. 

I got into Tibia around 2001 from mostly watching my older brother play. In my household, Tibia was first discovered in 1997 due to the alternative of wanting to find another game than Quake to play. Ironically, Tibia was a game that my older brother found and fell in love with. The first server and character I ever played was on Nova, but I have years playing many other servers such as Amera, Fortera, Talera, Jonera and Zanera. Like most players in Tibia, I have retired many times and returned. What brought me back from my recent extended retirement was when a long term mutual friend formed the famous "Team Os" clan in Amera, that ended up expanding in multiple servers in North America.

 (Credits to MishaArt for the image)

Can you share with us the meaning of your char name ?

- "Dillon Style" or "Style" is a family name that a group of friends chose in Talera, most of which are retired so it has sentimental meaning to me to continue branding this name.

How have you formed lasting friendships through your experiences in Tibia, and can you share a memorable story of how a particular friendship began?

- Playing this game throughout my childhood I've formed many friendships that I still maintain to this day. The most memorable one being my old neighbor in Fortera that I used to rent a house/shop in 2007. Our older brothers were a part of the dominating guild, and here we were, their little brothers out making trouble, random PKing in Carlin often having to have our brothers break up the mess that would occur after. Another way to put it, we were partners in crime. Unfortunately, we lost contact after a while but we recently reconnected last year after seeing mutual names of each other on Tibia Instagram. So, I guess you can say the world is a small place.

We know you have found love in Tibia. Can you dedicate a few words to your beautiful wife and describe her with three values?

- My partner is an amazing mother to our children, I am super content where we are in life and I couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side. I like to keep my family life private, I don't own any personal social media accounts for such reasons. The 3 values I would have to attribute are that she's supportive, encouraging, and a great heart.

How long have you been playing on retro PVP servers, and what drew you to them?

- I recently reconnected with Retro Servers in 2017, when Eldera was released. I am no stranger to Oldschool Tibia in general. I returned to the newer retro PVP servers in 2018 when Eldera was merged into Firmera. I have been playing these servers ever since, sometimes in spurts of time, and others in extended periods. What draws me to these servers is that there is more strategy required in fights rather than fights you see in Open PvP, with more at stake when you experience deaths.

What motivated you to become a leader of a guild on a retro PVP server?

- I have always preferred to be a member in my early days, just because it carries less stress and responsibilities that leaders experience otherwise. I got promoted to leader ranks due to being one of the most active players and movers for most of my early years. However, I would say the most appropriate title to refer to myself as, is a main leader of my guild and not *THE* leader. We are a team with multiple leaders and bankers.

Can you describe the primary goals and values of your guild?

- I would say our goals are to keep our homes peaceful and under our control, while ensuring that our enemies do not disguise themselves as neutrals. Our values are that we will fight till the end no matter how rough any war may be, as we have endured wars of long durations. Most of the leaders in my guild that you will see are people that I have played with and sometimes, against, for many years in other servers and wars.

How does your guild approach PVP combat on retro servers? Do you have specific strategies or tactics?

- When it comes to PK teams that come to fight on our servers, it depends on the scenarios. Most of the strategies aren't really different from Open PvP servers where it's bomb characters fighting bomb characters, code slang for characters that are meant to die in PvP action. When you're dealing with an invasion of 200+ makers logging in, the best thing you can do in Retro PVP is connect to level 200-250 RPs and start shooting away, working your way towards the higher levels with your team. It's always best to let the leaders to be the ones to die on main chars in these sort of attacks. The best way I can explain Retro closed fights, it's like a tense game of chess. Every move can either break the fight resulting in every person of your team dying, or every person in the enemy team dying.

How do you recruit and retain members?

- I recruit friends, and friends of friends. I am against random recruiting of players I have no familiarity with. We are a team of war, so that being said, any recruit of ours has to be a player of war. Retro is not for the weak. if there is no war in our home servers, we go looking for the next challenge that is long term. These challenges are currently being the Retro Hardcore servers, with some instances of newly created Retro Open PvP servers.

What qualities do you look for in potential new guild members?

- People with the least betrayals on their record. We are against dishonor in our guild. Patience is required in a retro server, so that is probably the main trait that is searched for.

How do you manage alliances with other guild, and what factors influence these relationships?

- In Retro servers, the quote "the enemy of the enemy is my friend" has been widely practiced for many years. We have fought against some of our current allies in previous wars, to only end up being allied later to fight a common new enemy that they were once allied to. I would say the best thing to do for your team is to make decisions that secure the future of your home server, or will bring valuable allies to fight by your side in the times of need in your home server. Always help your allies, even if they are the underdogs. Most allied guilds will always remember and appreciate it.

Can you share a memorable story about a rivalry or alliance that had a significant impact on your most recent war?

- It's no secret that you will find most of Bastex members playing in Retro Hardcore North American servers with the Latino players that main those servers. We have been longterm rivals in the past, but that all changed when a long term rival of ours that played against us for many years in Retro Open joined the American team in Retro Hardcore. The first issue is that a couple of American players close to the leaders in the Retro Hardcore team decided to steal from one of my close friends, clearing out several thousands of dollars in equipment, items and attempting to rook their character. The sad part about this story is that they were close friends themselves and trust was broken. When it was investigated, we found that the people responsible played with the American team in Retro Hardcore actively, their leaders knew about it and turned a blind eye. They have been no stranger to trolling in Firmera, so we returned the favor by attacking them. Unfortunate for them, we have no plans on leaving anytime soon and only plan on expanding more in that region.

How do you make important decisions within the guild? Is it a collaborative process?

- It's always important to take into consideration the opinions of your members, but not to let them be your main voice of decisions. It should always begin and end with the leaders of the team making decisions that work the best for everyone. as members may not have the same long term visions that their leaders have, given every action has consequences that can be positive and negative.

Can you describe a difficult decision you had to make as a leader and how you handled it?

- The most difficult decisions you can make are spotting the correct spies in your team and banning them, without losing your members in the process. When your Teamspeak Server has enemy spies watching all your pokes, listening to your fights in real time, etc, you have to make difficult decisions that can backfire in order to balance the fights. Unfortunately and fortunately, I have a gift for spotting spies in my team and most of the leaders have given me the task of discovering such, as I have discovered the last 3 spies in my team in the last 2 years through many methods that I do not wish to disclose publicly due to how effective they are. 

Unfortunately, some people are motivated by greed and money, loyalty of others sometimes has a price tag.

What types of Tibia events or activities does your guild participate in or organize? 

- Easy, my wife help me with all the organization for tibia events or for celebrations like give away at the guild members or presents when is necessary.

How do you keep your members engaged and motivated, especially during downtime or off-peak hours? 

- Well when we have time off, we go and have fun at the retro hardcore servers, and sometimes my wife make giveaways with the team.

How do you handle conflicts or disputes between clan members?

- We have zero tolerance for thieves in our team that steal from other members. Conflicts and disputes usually can be worked out by leveling with both parties. It's always best to keep in touch with people so that everyone is on the same page.

How do you plan to adapt to changes or updates in the game that might affect retro PVP gameplay?

- If my guild had it our way, we would remove the BattleEye protection restrictions of Green and Yellow, and merge all the Retro Open PvP servers into one server. We are ready to adapt to any changes when announced, and hope Cipsoft reads our feedback that is filled out monthly on the main Tibia.com website I believe Cipsoft has no intentions to remove Retro from the game, but I can see new restriction servers being created in the future. (Hi, CM Solkrin!).

What advice would you give to someone aspiring to become a leader on a retro PVP server?

- You will make friendships, and you will have friends turn into mortal enemies and thieves, such is the way of Tibia. I would say the main trait that is required as a leader in a retro PVP server is patience, and being able to endure tough times.

How has leading a guild on Tibia influenced your personal or professional life outside the game?

- Aside from the obvious stress that comes from being one of the leaders, Tibia is one of the many video games I play to escape stress from the daily duties in life and work. I would say it influences you to have thicker skin when it comes to insults from the enemy guilds. You will never find a shortage of personal insults of all kinds, and even IRL trolling during wars. Sometimes you may find it easy to lower yourself to the same level as the enemy antagonists, but it's always better to take the higher road.

What tools or platforms do you use for communication and coordination within the guild?

- We use WhatsApp, Teamspeak and Discord for all different purposes. Violent Bot is the best Discord PvP Tibia Bot I've been able to find that works best for our team. We use TBot and X3tbot Teamspeak Services to track our allied and enemy players in the servers we play in. WhatsApp is used as a way to poke our members about action while they are away from the computer.

How do you handle logistical attacks, such as scheduling war actions across different time zones?

- We are mostly active 18 hours of the day via various leaders, players and servers that have different schedules. Most of us work and live in the United States and Mexico, so you will see most fights occur after 3PM and 5PM PST. We go where the action is, so if there is nothing going on in Retro Open, you can find us helping our allied teams in Retro Hardcore.

How do you keep up with the evolving meta and mechanics of PVP on retro servers?

- To be honest, there are not many evolving mechanics of PVP on Retro Servers due to how the system was built. Half of the strategies you see in an Open PVP server with bomb characters being a part of the war, then main characters being used in specific attacks, the same happens in Retro servers minus being able to walk through people or magic walls.

What is your strategy for training new members in PVP skills?

- I believe Retro is the true way to play PVP in this game, speaking for Retro Hardcore and Retro Open. The best strategy I have found effective is involving new recruits in the newly created Retro Open PvP servers. 9 times out of 10 there is always another team on there that wants to conquer the server and try to use the population to recruit against our team. There is always a portion of our team wanting to play these servers for the thrill and excitement.

Do you have any tips for maintaining a strong economy within the guild?

- Encourage people to learn how to defeat the bosses within games, get people into a routine of killing gold and silver token bosses, as well as Ferumbras Ascendant and World Devourer. Help them complete the quests that people buy characters in the bazaar for, such as Primal Order and Soulwar. Every step counts.

Looking back, what has been the most rewarding aspect of leading a guild in Tibia?

- Without a doubt, the friendships made, and knowledge that is gained over the years. Not to mention, the trust that is built. I don't play this game for profit, it's all for nostalgia.

If you could change one thing about the retro PVP servers, what would it be and why?

- Remove the character bazaar from the retro servers. Force people to actually level their characters instead of just upgrading by buying them. True Retro Tibia is not pay to win.

• Thais or Darashia?
• Darashia, the best respawns in the game, exist in this region.
• Exevo Pan or Utani Hur?
• Utani Hur. Exevo Pan is completely useless in 2024.
• Exori or Exori Gran?
• Exori Gran, more damage.
• ED or MS?
• ED in Retro Open, MS in Retro Hardcore.
• TS or Discord?
• Teamspeak for communication, Discord for streaming.

If you've made it this far, we thank you for your time. 

Tibia remains a sanctuary, a place where we can disconnect from daily life and immerse ourselves in a world full of challenges, friendship, and excitement. 

Whether reliving past glories on a Retro PVP server, facing extreme danger on a Hardcore PVP server, or enjoying peaceful exploration on an Optional PVP server, Tibia offers a unique and unforgettable experience.

For each of us, the spirit of Tibia lies not only in battles and missions, but in shared stories, forged alliances, and created memories. 

See you in our next edition of POTM, where each interview is a new opportunity to experience great adventures!

Hail TibiaGoals